The Healing Service

Family and Friends,

Day 101 of our Haiti Adventure!

We promised to write more about the healing service we had last week where Sterlan and Lynn were both prayed for extensively. We have had some time to reflect on everything that happened and wonder/pray about what it all means. I'm not sure I can give any definitive answers, but I can share with you some of what we experienced on that fascinating night.

If you had a chance to read the post, “When It Rains It Pours”, you know that last week was one of our toughest weeks here. So when the man leading the prayer/healing service asked if he could pray for Lynn, I knew instantly in my mind and heart that all of the trouble and suffering was preparing us for God to do something powerful and good.  We have learned that lesson over and over...blessings precede trials, trials precede blessings.  I told Lynn, “maybe this is it...the big event we have been waiting and praying for.”

Not only were we having a hard time that day and that week, but I have to confess that the healing service right outside our house was a little bit annoying to me up to that point, in my weakened and crabbby state of sickness and tiredness. As I am sure you aware, worship services in developing countries like Haiti can go on and on and on. Then they go on some more. Plus they probably started late. This service fit all of those stereotypes. We had planned to start at 4PM, but we didn't get started until around 6:30. After about 45 minutes of Creole-only singing, one of the members of the mission team leaned over and asked me, “How long do you think this will go?” I said, “We hosted a similar service to commemorate the anniversary of the earthquake, and it lasted well over three hours, so get comfortable.”

After the whole Sterlan demon-attack happened, it was around 8:30 or so and we decided to put our kids to bed as the service continued. While I was in the house the leader approached Lynn about praying for her. She came in and talked to me, and around 9PM we were ready to start. I quietly repented of my earlier crabbiness and asked God to work powerfully despite my weakness.  The next four hours were a combination of Scripture reading, group prayer, singing, and I even got a cup of coffee at one point. There was a period in the middle where the group decided to pray more for Sterlan, but then they returned to Lynn.

Some of the highlights that I still remember...

Pam had her hands on Lynn's back, and she shared a vision from God of Lynn's life as a paraplegic being represented by a book. Pam could see in the vision that Lynn is now in the last chapter of the book of her paralysis. She will be healed soon.

At one point to girls from the orphanage were kneeling in front of Lynn. Lucy (age 9) was praying over Lynn's right foot, and Rose (age 11) was praying over her left. Both of them were looking up at Lynn with big brown eyes.

Elyse, one of our core group members, broke out into a hymn, singing very loudly and passionately. He doesn't like to sing in front of people, so that meant a lot.

For a long time Gertrude, the woman who runs the orphanage and who is the same age as Lynn, was praying beside Lynn and weeping in her prayers, calling out desperately to God.

Heidi and Jenna, two young women on the mission team, both spoke of a feeling of certainness from God that Lynn would walk. Both of them also pray for Lynn when they are in the US, and Jenna began doing so even before she knew Lynn existed. God just prompted her to pray for someone and later she knew it was Lynn.

Alexandra kept getting out of bed during the night (this is normal) and coming over to hang out in the middle of the prayer group like it was just some people hanging around talking. Then she would go back to bed for awhile, get up, go back to bed, etc...

Early on in the night I had this feeling that I should get my camera. I can't say for sure that it was the Holy Spirit telling me to do it, but I got the camera out of the house and had it ready in case Lynn got up and walked. In the end we quit around 1AM or a little later, but everyone felt strongly that all the praying had a purpose. We agreed later that if nothing else, it was touching to see how much everyone cares for us down here and how they are willing to give huge chunks of time and energy in prayer on our behalf.

When you reflect on a night like that, there is always the temptation to over-analyze everything that happened and ask if you did something "wrong", whether or not you really had the faith, whether or not you were ready to handle the miracle if it happened, etc... But we have chosen not to do that. We trust that if God wants to heal Lynn He will do it, and if not He will use her weakness to demonstrate His strength.

We believe in a middle ground on these issues. That is, we believe God allows us suffering and trials for different purposes throughout our lives, yet we also believe God will always listen to our prayers regarding healing and victory over those same struggles. We can both benefit from the difficult parts of life, praising God along the way, and also eventually overcome those difficulties also for the glory of God.

What an adventurous night that was...one that will not be quickly forgotten.  All adventures include both sufferings and blessings, do they not!  We can say confidently that this part of the adventure is not yet finished....
 
God Bless,
The Grimm Family Adventurers